The Hunting Party: A Novel (Hardcover)

March 2019 Indie Next List

“Lucy Foley’s The Hunting Party is a slick, streamlined murder mystery set on a remote Scottish luxury estate. A group of old friends get together for their yearly New Year’s trip, but after over a decade of closeness, some of them may be near the breaking point. Foley uses the multiple-narrator approach to distort the reader’s perspective and challenge their assumptions, but it doesn’t feel excessive. With multiple puzzles that come together to create the bigger picture and a short timeline that adds to the claustrophobic urgency, this novel is a devilishly thrilling winter read.”
— Annie Metcalf, Magers & Quinn Booksellers, Minneapolis, MN

During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirtysomething friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands—the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves.

The trip began innocently enough: admiring the stunning if foreboding scenery, champagne in front of a crackling fire, and reminiscences about the past. But after a decade, the weight of secret resentments has grown too heavy for the group’s tenuous nostalgia to bear. Amid the boisterous revelry of New Year’s Eve, the cord holding them together snaps.

Now, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead . . . and another of them did it.

DON’T BE LEFT OUT. JOIN THE PARTY NOW.

About the Author

LUCY FOLEY is a former editor at Hodder Fiction and has been both a literary agent and a bookseller. An avid painter, she now writes full time and lives in London, England.

Praise For…

“A ripping, riveting murder mystery — wily as Agatha Christie, charged with real menace, real depth. Perfect for fans of Ruth Ware.”— A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

“A tense, perfectly paced murder mystery.”— People

“Fans of Ruth Ware will likely rip through The Hunting Party at warp speed.”— Popsugar

“An addictive murder mystery full of suspense, secrets and surprises. I loved it!”— Alice Feeney, New York Times bestselling author of Sometimes I Lie

“Like a deliciously drawn out game of Clue, this novel brings together a group of Oxford friends at a remote Scottish highlands estate for the Christmas holidays....Foley paints such a vivid hunting-lodge-and-lochs setting that you’ll immediately be booking your own highland fling, clandestine killers or no.”— National Geographic

“Lucy Foley proves that the traditional country-house murder formula… can still work brilliantly… Superb.— The Times (London)

“Foley excels at the small details that make up a person… builds the tension cleverly and creepily, underlining the point that old friends aren’t always the best.”— The Observer (London)

“A great update on the classic country house murder… brilliantly builds the tension.”— Good Housekeeping, UK

“A claustrophobic, compulsive read.”— Tatler (UK)

“The suspense will keep you reading long after lights out.”— Woman & Home (UK)

“Everyone is a suspect in Lucy Foley’s clever murder mystery that harkens back to Agatha Christie and the Orient Express. Friends, lovers, strangers and murder at a secluded hunting lodge make for an absolutely delicious read!”— Wendy Walker, author of the national bestseller All Is Not Forgotten

“Anyone who’s grown apart from old friends will recognize the yearning depicted here to make everything as it was....Readers are left wondering until the end which guest has died as well as who the killer is; they will be well rewarded by the story’s ending.”— Booklist

“Very gripping and so good on the awfulness of some long-history friendships!”— Sophie Hannah

“Hugely entertaining. Full of surprises. This is a clever, twisting page-turner of the highest order. I loved it.”— Simon Kernick

“I loved THE HUNTING PARTY – a gripping, eerie thriller set in a beautifully imagined remote wilderness with pitch-perfect characters.”— Laura Marshall

“The Secret History meets And Then There Were None, this is a fantastic crime debut.”— Cass Green

“A first rate murder mystery with a cast of well crafted characters, secret upon secret and a healthy dose of deceit. You won’t look at your old friends in the same way when you read this book. I hugely enjoyed it. Guaranteed to be a huge hit.”— C.L. Taylor

“Thrilling and atmospheric. I loved this thoroughly modern and glamorous update of the country house murder mystery.”— Tasmina Perry

“Twisty, layered and compulsive. I raced through the pages in a hunt to discover the truth.”— Lucy Clarke

”[A] brilliant, edgy book about friendship and obsession. Atmospheric, spooky, dripping with threat, it’s a book to dig your claws into and not let go.”— Julia Crouch

“Brilliant characterisation. And great fun!”— Harriet Tyce

“It was gripping and exciting and wonderfully written, of course, with such incredible characters and a wonderful twist that I really didn’t see coming. I bloody loved it.”— Louise O’Neill

“Reminded me of The Party mixed with In a Dark Dark Wood with a dash of And Then There Were None.”— Sarah Vaughan

“Grab a blanket and read the surprising things that happen when highly educated English people let their hair down.”— Mystery Scene